Destined Victory
by Eponymous
Summary: Jinnai's greatest plan reaches the point at which he explains everything to his enemies just before implementing it. But then he wins anyway.


Destined Victory   
by Eponymous 

Katsuhiko Jinnai sat back in his Royal Throne in the Roshtarian Palace.   
It had been a hell of a lot of work to sneak said throne into the main   
hall with just Groucho to help him, but he wasn't about to make this   
speech sitting on one of the Alliance's Royal Beanbags. 

He looked down on the assembly before him. They were on ground level   
with him, but he looked down on them nonetheless. By his count, he saw   
three elemental harpies, one of them retired, one drunken history   
teacher, one milquetoast princess, one revoltingly ugly lesbian   
princess, two diminutive hyper-hormonal runts, one or two others he   
glossed over in order to get to the end, and a destined rival he was   
about to grind to dust. 

"I suppose you're all wondering why I've called you here today," Jinnai   
said. 

"Probably to boast about all your plans and your genius and everything.   
And laugh a lot," said one of the runts. He thought it was the girl,   
but who could tell? 

"An excellent suggestion!" Jinnai laughed. "Ah, but not quite. Oh,   
sorry to have interrupted dinner, by the way. Enjoying the wine, were   
you Sensei?" 

"I'm still shober enough to put you on permanent detention, you rot...   
hic..." 

"I believe the words you were attempting to slur out were 'rotten   
kid.'" 

"Thanksh." 

"Don't mention it. Not that you'll be able to once I kill you all!" he   
laughed again. 

"Why have you come here?" the boring princess asked. "You know such   
brazen behavior can only result in your capture." 

"Pfft, it's obvious Rune," said her repugnant sister. "It's to show us   
that he _can_. Break into the enemy palace with just one Bugrom with   
him, set up some furniture, issue a challenge, make a speech and run   
like hell. Basic intimidation tactic. 'Course, it's hard to see why   
we oughtta be intimidated by a rogue interior decorator." 

"Oh, this little thing?" Jinnai said, tapping the throne. "This is   
nothing. The number of times I've been in the palace by now, I could   
have the whole place done up in plaid if I'd wanted to." 

"Woozoowasoowa," said the purple Bugrom at his side. 

"Yes, and I hate plaid too," Jinnai said. "I was speaking   
hypothetically." 

"You liar," the fire harpy said. "You've never been in the palace   
before in your life. And you're not about to have another chance,   
eith-" 

The green one stopped her from powering up. "Not yet, Shayla. No   
sense in damaging the Palace right now. We have him cornered." 

"Never been here before, have I? Then how did I travel with you to   
Cretaria, mm? No, I've been in and out of your precious palace day to   
day for months now. Keeping my eye on my greatest rival here. Making   
sure he wasn't creating any more ultimate weapons that might threaten   
my rapidly growing power base too soon. But most of all, waiting for   
*just* the right moment..." 

"For what?" Makoto asked. If there was one thing that infuriating fool   
was good for, it was a straight line. 

"Oh, nothing much, just... activate control connections now," he said   
offhand. 

"What's that supposed to-" 

And the trap was sprung. 

*** 

Outside, there was a sudden roar of wind. The group's eyes went to the   
windows, and the steadily darkening sky that could be seen through them. 

"You finally put those components you've been tinkering with back in   
the Eye yesterday, didn't you, Mizuhara?" Jinnai asked. "A shame you   
didn't check for any tampering. Anything that would, say, give me sole   
control of the Eye of God?" 

"That's impossible!" Makoto said, apparently failing to notice the   
bolts of black energy crackling around the Eye outside. "You couldn't   
have known how, unless you'd-" 

"Picked up the remains of the Trigger of Destruction after you   
destroyed it? Set up my new base at the mouth of the caves once   
inhabited by the Phantom Tribe? Conscripted their paltry few survivors   
into the service of the Omnipotent Bugrom Empire? Used their   
scientists and technology to adapt the Trigger's technology to create   
new devices of my own? ALL of the above?!" 

"Okay," Shayla said, powering up. "So you've got the Eye of God. All   
we've gotta do is stop you before you-" 

"Oh, I think I'm quite well protected. Stop her, my dear." 

Shayla had just enough time to laugh at Jinnai calling that bug 'my   
dear' before the fist backhanded her. 

The others watched as, almost in slow motion, Shayla moved forward, and   
a fist swung out directly in her path, collided with her face, and sent   
her flying backwards in an arc and crashing to the ground on her back. 

"You know, I do believe I'm beginning to see the appeal of that move,"   
Jinnai smiled vindictively. 

Everyone else looked from the prone, dazed Shayla, to the glassy-eyed   
owner of the fist that hit her. 

"Qawool?!" Miz started. 

"What's the meaning of this?!" Afura said, letting anger slip into her   
normally stoic demeanor. 

"The meaning is 'I win,'" Jinnai laughed. "Come, Qawool!" 

The group watched, stunned, as water priestess walked robotically to   
stand at Jinnai's side. "Ah, how the tables have turned," he said with   
a satisfied smirk. Beside him, the blue-haired girl stared blankly   
ahead and said nothing. 

"What have you done to her?!" Makoto demanded. 

"Your little substitute girlfriend? I've done her a greater service   
that you realize, Mizuhara, believe me." 

"What? What are you talking about?" 

"So glad you asked. It all started after the Trigger was destroyed.   
You see, Mizuhara, I realized that you might have robbed me of my   
armies, my weapons, my empire, my hive, my _armor_-" He glared at   
Fujisawa. "Which I'll be expecting back. And cleaned." He stood up,   
triumphantly. "But the one thing you could never take from me, my   
inherent brilliance, remained! Brilliance enough to see how easily   
your band of fools fell under the influence of a sweet-and-innocent   
act. It was child's play to place a double agent among your ranks." 

"But you couldn't!" Miz protested. "The Seminary would never-!" 

"Ha! It's your own fault for retiring without a successor, you soggy   
old wench! The Priestess Academy was so desperate to find a new Water   
Priestess they waived the background check. All I had to do was come   
up with a story about a 'mysterious ancient tribe' and she was in! You   
played right into my hands!" 

"But her skill-" 

"Engineered, the same as everything else," Jinnai said. They looked at   
him, uncomprehending. "Haven't you figured it out by now? Her   
instinctive knowledge of every water technique ever invented? Her   
ability to synchronize with Ancient Roshtarian technology? Her   
convenient, almost *programmed* fear of the very race she'd otherwise   
be ordered to destroy? The Resemblance? Anybody?" 

Jinnai shook his head. "Honestly, if you were any more dense you   
wouldn't be worth conquering in the first place. She's a demon god.   
My newfound lackeys built her using Kalia's technology and Ifurita's   
template. And with the combined powers of both, I'd say she makes a   
fitting weapon with which to accomplish my ultimate victory, wouldn't   
you?" 

"Is it possible, Makoto?" Afura asked, while the others looked on in   
surprise. 

Makoto had been looking deliberately at Qawool all the time Jinnai had   
been speaking. Steadily, he walked across the room to stand before the   
blue-haired girl. Jinnai watched in amusement. 

"Qawool, can you hear me?" Makoto asked gently. 

Qawool stared blankly at the space occupied by his eyes. 

"Qawool, listen to me," he said, soothingly. "Can you listen to me?   
You have to break free of him, Qawool. You aren't a demon god." 

"Pardon me?" Jinnai said. "What was that? What are you saying now?" 

Makoto kept speaking to her, taking her hand in his own. "You aren't a   
demon god, Qawool. If you were, I'd be able to synchronize with you."   
He held up their joined hands before her eyes. "See?" he smiled. 

Jinnai snorted. "Like you could Kalia? No, this brand of demon god   
only shows you what I want it to. But if you're so desperate for   
proof, go ahead. Qawool, enable read-only mode." 

All at once Makoto's eyes were wide and far away. 

"I think that proves my point," he said to the others. "Now, are there   
any questions about how I've defeated you all? Anyone curious as to   
why I put her in a position to be exposed to the Eye-unsealing ritual?   
Want to hear how that little unexpected trip to Cretaria helped   
expedite my plans? Really, I've got nothing to hide..." 

"Yeah... Yeah, I got a question," Fatora said. "Isn't there supposed to   
be a screw or something in her back? I've seen her naked, and she   
looks pretty human to me." 

"An outmoded feature, I had it removed. Along with a few other   
upgrades. Isn't that right, Mizuhara?" 

Makoto stepped back from Qawool, who remained just as much under   
Jinnai's thrall as ever. "You... You've booby-trapped the obedience   
circuit." 

"I never make the same mistake twice. You, on the other hand, are   
laughably predictable. I knew if I placed a new demon god in your   
ranks you'd fall for her instantly, you fickle, feeble-minded fool." 

"That isn't..." Makoto blushed. "I mean, we aren't..." 

"I knew you couldn't help but fall prey to your own pathetic emotions.   
And because of that you let her get close enough to your experiments to   
synchronize with the Eye!" 

"What about her personality?" Afura asked. "Did you engineer that,   
too?" 

"No, that much she developed on her own. The most bizarre thing about   
Kalia's creators, they didn't seem to understand the need to crush   
one's servants completely to their will. Naturally the control   
overrides compensate for that little glitch, but it *has* created some   
aggravating stumbling blocks along the way. A few creations that   
couldn't quite follow along with the Simplest Little Plan. Isn't that   
right, Groucho?" 

"Woozoowazoowa!" exclaimed the purple Bugrom. 

"Of course, attacking her skimmer ended up working out in our favor!   
God's on my side! _Anything we did_ would have worked out in our   
favor! That's not the point!" 

"Wazoowawoozoo?" 

"That falling back on something as unimaginative as divine intervention   
is an insult to my tactical genius!" Jinnai folded his arms in   
exasperation. "Your original never had these kind of problems, you   
know." 

"Original?" Afura repeated. 

"Yes, the former Groucho suffered a bit of strain setting up the   
Trigger's equipment, we had to clone him. Waste of resources and it   
took forever, we didn't try it again. Still, aside from the voice,   
it's a perfect match, don't you agree?" 

He looked at Qawool. "In retrospect, though, I think in her case it   
works out even better this way. Who wouldn't want an ultimate weapon   
that doubles as a hostage?" 

"Then, she didn't know," Makoto said. "And she's still in there,   
somewhere..." 

Jinnai nodded gleefully. "She had no idea of her true importance. She   
carried out my instructions to synchronize with the Eye without even   
realizing it!" 

"Alright! I'd say that about wraps up the question and answer   
session!" Shayla said, pulling herself to her feet. "Time we shut you   
and your new toy down for good!" 

"Agreed," Afura said. "Just try not to harm Qawool," she told her   
comrade. 

"Yeah, well-" Shayla caught an imploring look from Makoto, "I'll...   
I'll try my best." 

The two priestesses stepped forward, lamps at the ready. "Have you   
anything more to say, villain?" Afura intoned. 

"Just one thing," Jinnai said. "You've sparred with her before,   
haven't you? Used your powers against her?" 

Afura nodded. "She can use our own powers against us. We know that.   
But the Order of Mount Muldoon can not, will not stand idle in the face   
of evil such as yours." 

"And normally, it might be entertaining to watch your inevitable   
defeat. But I've both been there and done that, so I think I'll skip   
right to the next phase. Qawool, the next phase, if you would." 

"Yes master," Qawool said, monotone. 

The fire priestess blasted at her former comrade, hoping to stop her   
before she did whatever it was she was about to - only to have the   
flames halt in the middle of the room and disperse. She opened and   
closed her mouth a few times. Afura, in return, opened and closed her   
own. 

"What's going on?" Makoto asked, looking at his friends on the other   
side of the room. "Why can't they speak?" 

"Oh, they can," Jinnai assured. "Can't you?" 

Shayla mouthed at him some more. 

"Of Course," Jinnai went on, loudly, "they happen to be trapped behind   
a wall of wind that will block any force thrown at it, including any   
sound from their side, yet allow them to hear every word spoken on   
ours. The perfect audience," he grinned. "Oh, and for the record,   
Miss Mann, should you attempt to remove this wall, not that you can   
since the technique has been lost since Kalia's time, Qawool will kill   
Mizuhara. Won't you, Qawool?" 

"Yes master," Qawool said, monotone. 

The priestesses reluctantly stood down, watching anxiously with the   
rest. At the other end of the room, Jinnai's servants stood by, one   
blank, the other physically unreadable, while the two young men faced   
one another. 

"This is the next phase isn't it, Katushiko?" Makoto asked, unafraid.   
"This is the showdown you wanted. Between the two of us." 

"No interruptions, no distractions, nothing but you, and me, and my   
undefeatable power. Lovely, isn't it?" 

"I won't fight you, Katsuhiko." 

"HA! You couldn't stand up against me if you tried! Besides, why   
should I bother to let you? That's what I have lackeys for." 

"I won't fight her, either," Makoto said, looking to Qawool. He got   
down on his knees. "I surrender, Katsuhiko. You win. It's over." 

Jinnai grit his teeth. "More LIES, Mizuhara?" He seized Makoto by the   
shirt and dragged him to his feet. "You don't think I can see what   
you're doing? You're trying to manipulate me, trick me into giving you   
what you want, just like you always have! Just like you trick   
everybody! Not this time, you don't! Not This Time!" 

"Then what do you want? If don't want to fight and you don't want me   
to give up, what do you-" 

"I want to *prove* my superiority to you!" Jinnai shouted. "To make   
clear once and for all who is the greater between us! And that, as   
you," he pointed to Makoto, "and they," he pointed to the crowd trapped   
watching behind the invisible wall, "and even she," he pointed to where   
Qawool stood, unable to do anything but watch, "can clearly see, is ME.   
At long last *I* am holding all the cards. I control the Eye, I   
control the demon god, my armies are strong, my resources are   
unlimited, my victory is assured and you... are completely at my   
mercy." 

He stared Makoto point-blank in the face. "You have nothing, Makoto,   
do you understand that? Nothing but what I grant you. I control the   
Eye of God. I control the only way you're ever getting your defective   
demon doll back." Makoto's eyes widened suddenly. "Oh, yes. If I   
choose, I could destroy the Eye. It wouldn't matter how much   
information you dig up about it then, you'd never be able to use it if   
I do away with the thing itself. You'll never see her again, not   
without my say-so. Do you know what that means? Everything you want,   
everything you'll ever have, is now all dependent on ME. On My Whims.   
As of THIS moment, I am your GOD!" 

"Y-you wouldn't-" 

"Qawool, put out the Eye," Jinnai said, not breaking his stare. 

"Yes master." 

Makoto froze in his tracks. He looked ready to move, yet unable to.   
Outside the skies began to pulse darkly. 

"She's arming the sequence as we speak," Jinnai said. "In a few   
minutes she'll be done, and the Eye will quietly blast itself into   
another dimension, just vanish out of our skies and appear in somebody   
else's. Say, maybe that's how it gets to Cretaria..." 

"No..." Makoto grabbed Jinnai by his jacket. "NO!" 

"What are you going to do, resort to physical violence? Not your   
style, you're a hero, remember? Besides, it won't help anything.   
Qawool's the one controlling the Eye. I've withstood much worse than   
the amount of damage a weakling like you could inflict without   
betraying my cause, you can't make me stop her. I suppose you *could*   
try freeing Qawool from my control again... but you saw what that would   
do, didn't you?" 

"It... It would kill her..." Makoto whispered, his grip growing slack. 

"One of my very first custom adjustments," Jinnai agreed, grinning. 

"Katushiko, you... You can't..." Makoto's voice was uneven. 

"Why not? What's the Eye of God to me, really? I have the means to   
create an army of demon gods. Another Trigger of Destruction, even!   
The Eye is just old junk to be put out on the curb as far as I'm   
concerned. No, it's entirely out of my hands now. I'm not touching   
it." 

Jinnai removed his enemy's hands from his person and straightened his   
lapels. Makoto watched Qawool, both of them frozen to the spot. The   
darkness outside pulsed faster. Jinnai paced around his rival,   
panther-like. 

"It's all up to you now, Mizuhara. Just like it always is. If you   
want the spotlight so badly, take it. It's your decision. What's it   
going to be? Will you kill the girl to stop her? Or will you lose the   
only piece of malfunctioning machinery you ever loved?" 

"I... I can't... I can't..." Makoto looked at him, eyes wide in   
desperation. "Katsuhiko, you don't have to do this..." 

"Yes, I DO!" Jinnai sneered. "I've known I had to do this since the   
day we first met! To show to the world, to ANY world, your impotence   
in the face of my superiority! You are helpless now, you hear?!   
*Helpless*!" 

"That- that's not true..." Makoto smiled cautiously, nervously. "_You_   
can help me... If you're really that powerful, you can help me." 

Jinnai shrugged. "Oh, I know I can. But why should I?" 

"Whyever you want," Makoto said, gulping slightly. "I'll do anything,   
if you'll just... Just don't do this. Please don't do this..." 

"Oho? What was that I heard? Was it... begging? From Makoto   
Mizuhara? The usurper who's stolen everything that's rightfully mine   
is now pleading for me to give him still More?! Not. Extremely. Likely." 

"I need your help..." Makoto said shakily. "I- I can't do anything-" 

"No, you really can't, can you? Now, if *I* were in your position, I'd   
know exactly what to do. I'd do away with the girl without a thought.   
After all, outside of Ifurita, there's the Alliance to be thought of,   
isn't there?" 

Makoto flinched visibly. 

"If you don't stop her, the very thing that holds this society together   
will be lost. And right on the eve of my invasion, no less. Why, that   
would be like condemning an entire world to anarchy in its time of   
dearest need. And a hero-type like you could never allow *that*..." 

Makoto shivered, rooted to the spot. 

"Or could you? Tell me, could you let me conquer the Alliance, condemn   
your Ifurita to die, even forget about all those poor, poor Cretarians   
who'll die when the Eye crashes down on them, just so you can keep your   
hands clean? Do, enlighten me." 

"... stop it..." Makoto's head dropped. His hands clenched. "...STOP   
it..." 

"You're trapped, Mizuhara. Like a rat in a maze with no exit. You   
lose either way, no matter what you do. There's no way out. You're   
doomed. Powerless. And is there anyone here, Anyone At All," he   
surveyed the shocked and enraged faces behind the wall of air, "who has   
any doubt who has done this to you?!" 

Jinnai grinned at his quivering archnemesis. "No, I don't believe   
there is." 

Makoto shivered, stealing a glance at Qawool as she stood there,   
impassively. He clamped his eyes shut and winced in agony.   
"...katsuhiko... you... You..." 

Jinnai watched, fascinated behind his smug grin. Would Mizuhara lash   
out, for all the good it would do him? No, he doubted it. More   
likely, he'd have to admit something Jinnai had known all along. 

"you... you are... Evil... y-you..." 

"I *am* evil. And I am a genius. And you, are finished. As of - NOW!" 

An explosive shock ripped across in the skies outside. Makoto's head   
jerked up just in time to see the black flash from the windows. There   
was a roaring of thunder, and the wind began to steadily die down. In   
its wake the dark clouds dispersed, and the skies cleared. Cleared, to   
reveal nothing but sky. 

Makoto choked. "...n-no..." 

Jinnai shot his fist into the air. "YES!" 

Makoto stared at the empty spot in the sky where the Eye had been,   
trembling violently. His eyes were wide, agonized. His mouth opened   
and closed emptily; the only sound that escaped was a choked sob.   
Slowly, a trickle of water found its way down the side of his face, as   
another trickled down the other. 

His knees gave out. He fell hard, arms barely catching him before they   
gave out as well. He crumpled to the floor, bowed down by the pain,   
weeping, at Jinnai's feet. He cried, mumbled to himself, shook, cried   
some more. 

Jinnai looked down at him, grinning at first. But then, as he watched,   
his smile slowly faded. His face grew contemplative. His eyes,   
distant. 

He'd won. Won, finally. After all this time. His entire life, he'd been   
trying to defeat Makoto Mizuhara. Fighting relentlessly, with no end in   
sight. Never stopping. Never slowing down. Giving it his all.   
Dedicating his life to it. 

And now here Makoto was, sniveling at his feet. Broken. Defeated   
utterly. Destroyed. Finished. Obliterated. Through. An X in a box   
somewhere. No longer anything. The single greatest challenge of his   
entire life, negated. 

Like he never even was. 

Jinnai looked down at the kneeling, weeping figure. In all his life he   
had never felt so... so... 

Fulfilled. 

"Good," he said. His own voice seemed different to him now. Calmer.   
It occurred to him he should probably be laughing, but why? There was   
no need. He'd won, no question. That was it. The manic energy inside   
of him was satisfied. The drive was gone, he'd reached his   
destination. 

It was done. 

*** 

Diva, Queen of the Bugrom Empire, watched with her newest children as   
the Eye of God vanished from the skies. Mister Jinnai's first line of   
assault had begun, and with it, the next war. She was confident of   
their victory, of course. The forces at the Alliance's command were   
nothing compared to those he had amassed at theirs. Between the   
technology of the Ancients and their Phantom Tribe servants, the Empire   
stood poised to dominate all El-Hazard. Victory was inevitable. 

And yet... 

Everything her Bugrom instincts told her said that a war at this time   
would be unwise. That they should concentrate on constructing and   
repopulating a new main hive. That it would be many generations of   
Queens before it would be time for the Bugrom to expand into new   
territory again. 

But Mister Jinnai had declared his intention to conquer El-Hazard now,   
and as Mister Jinnai went, so went the Empire. 

Her reverie was interrupted as one of her eldest children, the injured   
one whose name Mister Jinnai had changed, indicated the sky. She and   
her children watched in shock as, before their eyes and feelers, there   
was a dark flash in the space where the Eye had been, and the Eye   
itself reappeared. 

Diva did what she did best in such a situation. She worried. Had   
Mister Jinnai somehow unfathomably lost the upper hand? Had it been a   
mistake not to create any more demon gods to accompany him? His most   
powerful ally in the palace had been living among the enemy for months;   
might she have turned against him? Even if she couldn't access her   
demon god abilities without Mister Jinnai's orders, all she would have   
to do would be to fight his control enough to reject his commands, and   
he would be all but alone against the other priestesses and the palace   
security forces. 

All of these concerns, and the thousand more she had in the following   
hours, were ultimately rendered moot when Jinnai and the copy of the   
injured Bugrom returned, alone and unharmed. 

"Mister Jinnai, how went the siege?" she inquired. "Did you meet with   
any strong resistance?" 

"None at all, Diva," Jinnai said, speaking more fluidly than he usually   
did. "They didn't stand a chance. By the time I was through with   
them, they were more than happy to let me make a clean getaway in   
exchange for my releasing our pet priestess from my control." 

The copy pointed out that most of them had actually been outraged, but   
had reluctantly agreed with the senior princess' proposal. 

"I suppose that's true," Jinnai said. "I wasn't paying that close   
attention, it was all so beneath me." 

Diva peered at him, curious. He seemed... calmer than usual. But it   
was not her place to question his moods, only inquire after his   
actions, if he would allow it. "Mister Jinnai, the Eye has reappeared.   
Have you any idea why?" 

Jinnai nodded. "I had Qawool retrieve it before it drifted too far   
away." 

The copy asked him how it was supposed to get to Cretaria then, and   
Jinnai responded that he neither knew nor cared. It would eventually,   
somehow. 

Diva, however, was more concerned with the present situation. "You   
restored the Eye of God to the Roshtarians?" she asked, perplexed. 

Jinnai smiled cleverly, some of that familiar glimmer of cunning in his   
eyes. "Let Mizuhara have that defective defector back. Let him live   
to a ripe old age with her. Let him live every moment of every day   
with her knowing what he knows now. That the only reason, the only   
reason at all that he has her, is because *I* willed it so. Let him   
live with the proof of my power over him for the rest of his miserable   
life." 

"You are not concerned, then, that the Ifurita might prove dangerous to   
us?" 

"Of course not, we have the makings of a thousand demon gods. One or   
two on their side can't harm us and the Alliance knows it." 

"And, you left them the other one as well?" Diva attempted to sort out. 

"If we ever need more, we can build them easily. I didn't care for   
this one. Too nice. The Alliance can keep her for all I care." 

Diva looked at Jinnai, a deeply confused expression on her face.   
"Mister Jinnai, I do not understand. If you defeated all resistance,   
why have you returned so? Why give the Roshtarians the Eye and the   
demon gods? Is this some strategy I am unaware of?" 

"No strategy, Diva." He looked at the Bugrom he had named 'Zeppo.'   
"Zeppo, I want you to prepare the greatest, most opulent feast we have   
ever had. Bring out the wine, the sweetbreads, whatever you can find.   
For tonight, we celebrate the glorious culmination of the greatest   
struggle in human history: My unequivocal defeat of Makoto Mizuhara!" 

Zeppo scuttled off to the food stores. Jinnai looked at the still-   
disconcerted Diva confidently. "Was there something else, Diva?" 

"Mister Jinnai, I... I simply do not understand how you intend to   
further the conquest of the Alliance by these tactics." 

"Simple, Diva. I don't. A true conqueror knows when not to press for   
needless territory." He looked around the partially constructed hive.   
"No, I believe we'll just complete our restoration of the Bugrom Empire   
and leave it at that." 

"If... If you consider that wise," she agreed. "But, Mr. Jinnai...   
why?" 

"Don't you get it, Diva? I defeated Mizuhara. For *eleven years* I've   
been waiting to do that! Eleven years of constant, unrelenting one-   
upsmanship. Eleven years of being stifled at every turn by one man and   
one man alone! And now, finally, I've broken free of his trickery!   
Crushed the man who kept me down all this time! I stood up against him   
and I knocked him down! I've confirmed to the world my superiority to   
the only other person ever to even barely approach my level of   
greatness, and proven once and for all that there are none who can   
possibly oppose me! 

"After something like that, world domination would just be redundant."   


End   


----- 

El-Hazard was created by Hiroki Hayashi and Ryoe Tsurimura and is the   
property of AIC and Pioneer Entertainment. 


End file.
